Impact of recycling on multi-terawatt photovoltaic systems (ReNU+24/EE/MPEE/BEATTIE)

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities Plus (ReNU⁺) is a collaborative doctoral training programme run by the Universities of Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham. In addition to undertaking an individual scientific research project at one of the three partner Universities, doctoral candidates will engage with added value training opportunities, for example in business, innovation and internationalisation through a 4-year training programme that has been designed to maximise the benefits of a cohort approach to doctoral training. The start date is 1st October 2025. 

In 2050, the world population is predicted to be 10 billion people who will require between 1.4 and 8 kW per capita of electricity (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf6957). As a result of significant cost reduction and manufacturing innovations, photovoltaics (PV) is ideally placed to deliver this electricity with zero greenhouse gas emissions in operation. However, the scale of PV required to meet this demand is huge and will involve significantly increasing the installed capacity from around 1 TW today to approximately 75 TW by 2050. This expansion has serious implications for supply chains and the associated environmental impact. For example, constraints on the availability of silver, copper, aluminium and glass could all constrain PV growth and must be addressed to ensure PV plays a major role in achieving climate goals.

The overall aim of this project is to assess the environmental impact of increasing the global installed PV capacity to 75 TW and identify recycling strategies that will minimise this impact. The project will be heavily based on theoretical modelling using life-cycle assessment (LCA). This approach involves quantifying the environmental impact of a product over its whole life cycle from extraction of raw materials and manufacturing to the use and end-of-life phases. In this context, environmental impact includes greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, ecotoxicity and materials and minerals depletion. A key advantage of LCA is that it applies to any products and therefore the techniques you will learn in this PhD are highly transferable and industrially-relevant, especially with the introduction of new sustainability legislation such as the Environmental Product Declaration scheme.

The project is interdisciplinary and will involve learning new techniques and approaches. A key part of the project will involve travel and presentations at international conferences as well as leading meetings with industry partners. It would suit a candidate with a high-quality engineering or sciences background and who is interested in sustainability more generally. The project will also involve joining a small team of LCA researchers who, together, create a supportive and stimulating learning environment.

Academic Enquiries

This project is supervised by Professor Neil Beattie. For informal queries, please contact [email protected]. For all other enquiries relating to eligibility or application process please email [email protected].

Eligibility Requirements: 

• Academic excellence i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities with preference for 1st class honours); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement. However, a 3 or 2:2 may be considered with relevant work experience, skills and/or expertise, please contact the Institution Director, [email protected] for further info. 
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required. 
• Applicants cannot apply if they are already a PhD holder or if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere. 
• Must be able to commit to campus-based full-time or part-time study.

To be classed as a Home student, candidates must: 

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or 
• have settled status, or 
• have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or 
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter. 

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student.   

Applicants will need to be in the UK and fully enrolled before stipend payments can commence. Note the following are not covered by the studentship. 

• Immigration Health Surcharge https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application  
• Student Visa to enter the UK, please refer to https://www.gov.uk/student-visa.
• Costs associated with English Language requirements.  

International applicants (including EU) must have valid immigration permissions to live and study in UK if they wish to study on a part-time basis. Northumbria University does not sponsor part-time student visas.

For further details on how to apply see https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/    

Please complete the PhD application form in full, include the advert reference (e.g. ReNU+24/…) and also:

1. Upload degree certificates, transcripts and English qualifications (if applicable).
2. Upload your CV under the ‘Experience section’. This is MANDATORY.
3. In the personal statement section, select ‘no’ and type ‘no personal statement required’ in the box.
4. Research proposal is NOT required. Upload a blank document to progress your application. Choose ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Are you applying for a UKRI studentship?’ and then choose ‘EPSRC ReNU Plus’.
5. Choose ‘Scholarship’ under source of funding.
6. Post submission, you need to login to the applicant portal to complete a competency assessment form.

We have limited number of International awards available. Note that up to 5 offers will be made for the ReNU+ CDT projects advertised by Northumbria University.

Deadline for applications: 3 February 2025 

Start date of course: 1 October 2025 

Northumbria University is committed to creating an inclusive culture where we take pride in, and value, the diversity of our postgraduate research students. We encourage and welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds a bronze Athena Swan award in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality, we are a Disability Confident Leader, a member of the Race Equality Charter and are participating in the Stonewall Diversity Champion Programme. We also hold the HR Excellence in Research award for implementing the concordat supporting the career Development of Researchers and are members of the Euraxess initiative to deliver information and support to professional researchers.